Don't have an account?

Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Jacoby Ellsbury's stolen-base methodology is based on memory, not scouting reports

Jacoby Ellsbury

Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury celebrates after scoring in the fifth inning of Game 2 of baseball's American League division series against the Tampa Bay Rays Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

"I think Jacoby is the best in baseball right now, because he gives you the big stolen base in the big situation" — Red Sox 3B coach Brian Butterfield

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sometimes the best students really don't need to study.

Twenty seconds is all the time Jacoby Ellsbury said he dedicated Saturday to preparing to run the bases.

In the first inning of Game of 2 of the Division Series that night, he swiped second base, moved to third on a catcher's throwing error before scoring Boston's first run.

"I don't watch film," Ellsbury said afterward. "I've always said it's hard for me to watch it because they always come at you different. So if I watch something that someone else does on the bases, it doesn't really do anything for me."

The advance work the Red Sox coaching staff does to prepare players in all aspects of the game has been a hallmark of the team's success. Yet Ellsbury's base-stealing prowess provides a contrast to the typical modus operandi.

The center fielder doesn't use all of the information available — he might not even use most of it. He's talented enough, and utilizes his own memory so skillfully, that he doesn't need to.

"He gets a fly-by summary," Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo said Sunday, on a workout day before Game 3 in Florida. "Usually I give him a 15-second or one-minute summary as to what some of the hot spots are. He's that good. I can say he's one of the most physically gifted and one of the most mentally gifted base stealers I've ever been around. He has a great understanding of when it's supposed to happen, how it's supposed to happen and he understands the timing of how to make it happen."

Ellsbury has 14 stolen bases from Aug. 9 on. That's exactly one-third of the steals Boston has in a stretch of 42 attempts where the team has not been caught stealing, including the first two games of the playoffs.

"Base-running is an integral part of our maybe diverse approach to try to score runs," Sox manager John Farrell said. "How we create runs, pressure we'll put on the opposition, it was a building block in spring training. ... I can't stress enough the work that (coaches) Torey Lovullo, Brian Butterfield and Arnie Beyeler have in that."

There's no question Ellsbury is the team's best base-runner, and per FanGraphs, Ellsbury is the most valuable baserunner in all of the majors.

Butterfield, the team's third-base coach, offered that assessment himself on Sunday.

"I think Jacoby is the best in baseball right now," Butterfield said, "because he gives you the big stolen base in the big situation where you don't have to give up an out. You don't have to sacrifice. He is fearless. But he's also very intelligent and runs at the right time. I think he's very respectful of some of the guys that are hitting behind him."

Almost all of Ellsbury's 54 steals have come at second base — not third. Steals at third may not require as much skill, making Ellsbury's performance that much more impressive to Lovullo.

Ellsbury was successful the last time he attempted to steal third, way back on July 6. That was his sixth swipe there of the season, meaning just one-ninth of his 54 steals came at the hot corner.

Your browser does not support iframes.

"He's got it all and he doesn't steal cheap bases," Lovullo said. "We keep encouraging him to attempt to — he's like, 'I could steal 70, I know I could steal 70 if I steal third base. But those are meaningless. And those aren't important to me.' That's a great team concept."

If Ellsbury, the team's leadoff hitter, is standing on second base, that means the heart of the lineup is up. Stealing can distract hitters at the plate.

But Butterfield touched on the same idea: Ellsbury probably could have even more steals if he wanted — and maybe he should be trying more often.

"He's very respectful of some of the guys that are hitting behind him," Butterfield said. "There's times that he's a little bit still and too quiet, because he wants to ensure that he doesn't take the bat out of the hands. We try to keep pushing him."

Of players with at least 200 stolen-base attempts lifetime, only Carlos Beltran's lifetime success rate, 86.9 percent, is better than Ellsbury's 84.1. Notable is the third-highest name on the list (which includes the regular season and the playoffs), Shane Victorino. He's at 83.1 percent.

Ellsbury this year has 54 steals in 58 attempts. The 52 steals he had in the regular-season were the most in the majors, and the team's 86.6 percent regular-season rate is an American League record.

Boston Red Sox's Jacoby Ellsbury rounds third base in the fifth inning in Game 2 of baseball's American League division series against the Tampa Bay Rays Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

"We've done it all year long," Victorino said. "We've been aggressive on the bases. You talk about our stolen-base percentage and the success we've had there: it comes with hard work. It comes with research and understanding and all those things collectively making us who we are on the bases."

Well, only so much research. Ellsbury's disinterest in video may not be common, but it is something Butterfield has seen before. When he was coaching in Arizona, speedster Tony Womack was the same way.

"I mean, I've always had a high success rate," Ellsbury said. "Just being a student of the game, knowing from the past what they've done against you. I really don't watch film. I just go off of past times I've seen. So obviously, the more times you've seen a guy, the more benefit it is to you. Just talking to other guys that are on our team that are base-stealers, just gathering that information and putting a good plan together."